Thread accumulator for weft replenishing looms



Mmch 5 19% R. e. TURNER THREAD ACCUMULATOR FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed April 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 //YVENTOR R/cHARD CiTURNE/ BY M ATTORNEY March 5, 1946. R. e. TURNER THREAD AC CUMULATOR FOR WEFT'REPLENISHING LOOMS- Filed, April 1. 1944.- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 5, 1946 THREAD ACCUMULATOR FOR WEFT I REPLENISHING LOOMS Richard G. Turner, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester. Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 1, 1944, Serial No. 529,144

' 13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic thread control mechanisms for weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to improve the accumulators in which the threads of the incoming and outgoing bobbins are collected.

Heretofore I have proposed pneumatic thread control mechanisms for looms including a thread holder and a thread remover both connected pneumatically to a thread accumulator in Which su atmospheric pressures are created, as by an air pump. When the thread of a transferred bobbin is eventually cut at the selvage it is drawn through the thread holder and into the accumulator, and in similar manner when the thread of an ejected bobbin is out at the selvage it also moves to the thread accumulator. In time it becomes necessary to remove these threads from the accumulator for efficient operation of the system.

As heretofore made the accumulator has had a cover which when open to permit thread removal has destroyed the partial vacuum at the thread holder and the thread remover, and if a thread cutting or replenishing operation should occur at that time the pneumatic system will fail. It is an important object of my present invention to provide a thread accumulator so constructed that it may be opened for removal of waste threads without destroying the partial vacuum conditions existing within the system. By such an arrangement transfer and thread cutting can occur while the accumulator is being emptied with assurance that the thread holder and thread remover will operate satisfactorily.

It is another object of my present inventibn to provide a thread accumulator with a thread collecting compartment one side of which is formed by a movable wall so mounted and constructed that it can move forwardly to assist in removal of the waste threads and at the same time form a temporary compartment into which threads can be drawn.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide the thread collecting compartment with a wall perforated to establish pneumatic connection between the compartment and the pump, and wherein movement of the wall to facilitate thread removal automatically seals the perforation to prevent leakage of air into the system and therefore permit operation of the thread holder and remover.

It is a still further object of my present invention to provide the accumulator with a normally closed door connected to the aforesaid wall in such a way that when the door is open to afford access to the interior of the thread collecting compartment the wall will be moved forwardly to form the previously mentioned temporary compartment and at the same time effect the automatic sealing of the perforation already described. In this connection the door and wall are so related that the latter must be sealed before the door is opened sufliciently to permit removal of waste threads within the accumulator.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

l is a side elevation of a portion of a loom having my invention applied thereto, 1

Fig. 2 is a front elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical enlarged section on line 3--3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line E-E, Fig; 3,

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line D-D, Fig. 3, and 1 Fig. 6 is a detailed section on line YY, Fig. 3, when the movable wall is in the temporary position which it occupies when thread is being removed from the accumulator.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown a loom frame l having a lay H reciprocated backwardly and forwardly by connectors I 2 attached to the top or crank shaft l3 of the loom.

The lay has a shuttle box [4 to receive a shuttle S which is picked back and forth across the loom by ap ropriate mechanism not shown. A magazine M is provided with reserve bobbins B from which extend weft ends W to a thread holder designated at H. The holder comprises a tube l connected to a fitting l6 on the upper end of a pipe I! the lower end of which is attached by the second fitting I 8 to a thread accumulator box designated generally at A. The accumulator is supported on a bracket secured to the loom frame and projecting outwardly therefrom.

A thread remover R is located between the shuttle box and the fabric and is operative on a transferring pick of the loom to draw one end' of the thread T leading from the shuttle into the tube 2| the lower end of which is attached by fitting 22 to the aforesaid accumulator box A.

A fan 25 is mountedon a bracket 26 secured to the loomside and is driven by a belt 21 trained around a fan pulley 28 and a second pulley 29 turning on a stud 30 rotatably mounted on the loom. A small pinion 3| on the stud 30 meshes with a relatively large gear 32 secured to and turning with the top or crank shaft; I3. A pipe 35 extends forwardly from the fan and is attached by means of a fitting 36 to the rear of the accumulator A. All three of the pipes 2| and 35 communicate pneumaticalfy with the interior of the accumulator, and the fan 25 operates to create subatmospheric pressures within the pipe 35 and the accumulator and therefore operates to cause streams of air to be drawn into the thread holder H and the thread remover R. On some pick subsequent to a transfer operation of the loom the thread T and the thread W of the fresh bobbin inserted into the shuttle S will be cut, whereupon these threads will be drawn pneumatically into their respective control devices and thence to the accumulator. The lay has a bobbin chute 40 which directs the ejected bobbin into a bobbin can C supported on the accumulator A.

The matter thus far described operates in a manner substantially similar to that-set forth in my prior Patent No. 2,199,354 and also in my copending application Serial No. 526,033 filed March 11', 1944, now Patent No, 2,390,014. It is obvious that in order to insure perfect operation of the pneumatic thread controls subatmospheric pressures should exist in the thread holder and remover whenever the threads W should be tensioned and whenever threads W and T should be drawn into the accumulator. It is necessary from time to time toremove the threads which collect in. the accumulator and in order to facilitate this operation without destroying the pressures within; the accumulator I provide the mechanism shown particularly in Figs; 3, 4 and 5.

A door 45 is' hinged at 46 to the front of the accumulator A. and; movable upwardl to afford access: through opening. 41 to the interior of the accumulator. The interior of the accumulator A is provided: with. a'stationary vertical wall 50' having an opening 5| in the upper part thereofacross which extends a. screen 52. Wall 50 divides the accumulator into; rear and front compartments 53 and 54 connected pneumatically by opening 5|. A. second wall 55 is pivoted at its upper end as at 5.6. to the cover 5.! of the accumulator A and has an opening 58 normally registering with opening 5| and across which extends a screen 59.

A spring link 60 has rods 6| and 62 slidable on each: other and connected to the wall 55 and door 45, respectively. A compression spring 53' surrounds the rods and by its tendency to expand tends to shorten the connector 60 to the form shown in. Fig. 3. The connector is extensible however to permit movement of the door when the wall 55 is heldstationary.

Side. walls 65 and 65 of the accumulator, see Fig. 5, are provided with ribs 51, and a block 68 secured to the door of the accumulator is provided with a rib 69. A bracket l secured to the cover 1 extends downwardly from the latter and carries a seal 11- regsterable with the opening 58.

Under normal loomoperati'on the door and wall 55 are in the full line rear position shown in Fig. 3. andrcompartment-M ispneumatically connected to. the fan through openings 58, 5|, compartment 53, fitting 36 and pipe 55; Since the door 45 is closed. subatmospherie pressures are maintained at the intake. mouths of the thread holder and thread. remover and. these parts are effective to remove theirxrespectivev threadsW' and T. After anumber of replenishing; operations have occurred a considerable mass of weft ends wi laccumulate inv compartment 54 in front of wall55. In order-to remove this mass of threads the door will be opened, thereby causing link 60 to swing the wall 55 to the dot and dash line shown in Fig. 3, in which position it engages the ribs 61 and 59, and also the seal H for the purpose of closing the forward side of the opening 58. The left hand part of compartment 54 in front of wall 55 is therefore open to the atmosphere, but the right hand part thereof behind the wall 55 will be sealed against the atmosphere and will have a partial vacuum maintained therein by the fan.

Should threads W and T be out under these conditions they will be drawn in to that part of compartment 54 behind wall '55. In this connection it should be noted that pipe 2| is pneumatically connected through fitting 15 with that part. of compartment 54 behind wall 55, and pipe I! is similarly in communication with the same part. of said compartment through its fitting 18.

When the door 45 is opened wall 55 will be moved against its seals when both the door and wall reach their'dot and dash line positions shown in- Fig. 3. In these positions, however, the door is not opened sufilciently wide to afford ready access to. the interior of the accumulator'A, and it is necessary to lift the door to some such position as that indicated in dotted. lines in Fig. 3. During movement of the doorfrom the dot and dash position to the dotted position the link will be stretched tothe length indicated by dot and dash line a, Fig. 3, andspring 63 will be compressed and exert a force tending to hold the wall 55 in its. forward. sealed. position against atmospheric pressure; After the: mass of threads have been .removed door 45 is closed and the parts willreturn to the full lines in normal position shown in Fig. 3.

Itv is not likely that many thread cutting operations will occur while door 45 is open, hence the number of threads entering compartment 54 while wall 55 is in its forward position will be relatively small. These threads will of course accumulatebehind the wall but there will be so few ofithem. that the need for removal of' them will occur onl at infrequent intervals. When such occasion does arise the cover 51 will be lifted from the accumulator A sufiiciently high to permit: these threads to be removed from behind the wall 55'. In this connection it should be noted that the wall 55 and its seal 7| are both mounted on the cover 51' and that spring connector permits raising of the wall when the latter is in rear position without obstruction b ribs 61.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means for removing a mass of threads from the accumulator A without destroying subatmospheric pressures in the thread control' system. When the wall 55 is moved forwardly it engages ribs 61 and 69 and also engages the seal M, thereby effectively preventing air from moving inwardly through the open door to that part of compartment 54 behind wall 55. The pipes H and 2| have pneumatic communication with compartment 54 at points behind the wall 55 when the latter is in forward position. Furthermore, the spring link and the door 55 are so related that the wall 55 must be sealed before the door can be lifted high enough to aiford ready access to the interior of the accumulator for removal of t e mass of threads therein. Also, cover 51 can be lifted to raise wall 55 Sllfi'lClEXltly to permit removal of any threads which may collect behind wall 55. The bobbin can be removed from the accumulator to facilitate this operation.

Having thus described m invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a pneumatic thread control system having a thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the Waste threads to be removed incident to weft replenishing operations of a loom, a hollow thread accumulator pneumatically communicating with said. intake mouth and having subatmospheric pressures existing therein to draw the waste threads from the intake mouth into said accumulator, a door for said accumulator normally closed to maintain subatmospheric pressures within said accumulator but openable to permit removal of the waste threads within the accumulator, and means connected to and operated by said door and effective to preserve subatmospheric pressures within. a part of the accumulator communicating with said intake mouth when the door is open to permit removal of waste threads from the accumulator, to the end that a waste thread which should be removed when the door is open will be drawn into said part of the accumulator.

2. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having a pneumatic intake mouth which receives waste threads occurring incident to weft replenishing operations of the loom, a hollow accumulator for the waste threads, an inlet on said accumulator connecting the interior of said accumulator pneumatically with said intake mouth, a door for said accumulator located on one side of said inlet, a movable wall in said accumulator normally on the other side of said inlet but movable to a position on said one side of said inlet to form a temporary thread compartment communicating with said inlet, and means creating subatmospheric pressure within said accumulator and compartment.

3. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having an intake mouth which receives waste threads occurring incident to weft replenishing operations of the loom, a hollow accumulator for the waste threads, an inlet on said accumulator connecting the interior of said accumulator pneumatically with said intake mouth, a door for said accumulator located on one side of said inlet, a wall on the other side of said inlet normally forming one side of a thread receiving compartment, means mounting said Wall for movement to said one side of said inlet to form a temporary thread receiving compartment communicating with said inlet when the door is open for removal of waste threads from the accumulator, and means creating subatmospheric pressures within said compartments.

l. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator, a door on said accumulator, a wall within said accumulator mounted for movement toward the door, means comprising an inlet located normally between said door and Wall and pneumatically connecting the interior of the accumulator with said intake mouth, the waste threads normally collecting between said door and the wall, and means operative upon opening of the door to move said wall to the opposite side of said inlet end that when the door is open to permit removal of waste threads the system is operative to draw a thread from the intake mouth into said temporary compartment.

5. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator within which subatmospheric pressures exist, a door for said accumulator, a wall movably mounted within said accumulator, means comprising an inlet pneumatically connecting said intake mouth with the interior of the accumulator, the threads normally collecting between said wall and door, and a connector between the door and wall operative to'move the latter to the other side of said inlet when the door is open to permit removal of waste threads and cause said wall to form a temporary compartment pneumatically communicating with said inlet and intake mouth, to the end that a waste thread which should be removed when the door is open will be drawn into said temporary compartment.

6. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having a pneumatic intake mouth which receives waste threads occurring incident to Weft replenishing operations of the loom, a hollow accumulator for the waste threads, an inlet on said accumulator connecting the interior of said accumulator pneumatically .with said intake mouth, a door for said accumulator located on one side of said inlet, a movable wall in said accumulator normally on the other side of said inlet but movable to a waste thread removing position on said one side of said inlet to form a temporary thread compartment communicating with said inlet, means within said accumulator cooperating with said wall when the latter is in waste thread removing position to seal said temporary compartment from the atmosphere, and means creating subatmospheric pressures within said accumulator and compartment.

'7. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having a pneumatic intake mouth which receives waste threads occurring incident to weft replenishing operations of the loom, a hollow accumulator for the waste threads, an inlet on said accumulator connecting the interior of said accumulator pneumatically with said intake mouth, a door for said accumulator located on one side of said inlet, a movable wall in said accumulator normally on the other side of said inlet but movable to a waste thread removing position on saidone side of said inlet to form a temporary thread compartment communicating with said inlet, rib forming means on said accumulator within the latter cooperating with said wall when the latter is in waste thread removing position to seal said temporary compartment from the atmosphere, and means creating subatmospheric pressures within said accumulator and compartment.

8. In a penumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator for said waste threads, means constituting an inlet pneumatically connecting the interior of the accumulator with said intake mouth, a wall movably mounted within said accumulator normally on one side of said inlet but movable to thread removing; position on the opposite side of said inlet, a screen on said wall, a second inlet for said accumulator located. on that side of the wall opposite the first inlet and through which subatmospheric pressures are created within said accumulator, said wall when moving to thread removing position forming a temporary thread compartment pneumatically connected to the first inlet and said intake mouth, and means to seal said screen when said wall moves to said thread removing position.

9. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator having a connection through which subatmospheric pressures are created within the accumulator, a normally closed door for said accumulator, means comprising an inlet pneumatically connecting the intake mouth with the interior of the accumulator, a wall movably mounted within said accumulator and normally between said connection and said inlet, the wall and door being normally on opposite sides of said inlet, a screen on said wall pneumatically connecting that part of the accumulator normally between said door and wall with said connections, said wall being movable to a thread removing position on the opposite side of said inlet to provide a temporary compartment communieating with said inlet and said connection when said door is open, and means to seal said screen when the wall is in said thread removing position.

10. In a pneumatic thread control system for a. weft replenishing loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator having connections through which subatmospheric pressures are created within the accumulator, a door for said accumulator, a wall mounted within said accumulator for movement from normal position to thread removing position, means comprising an inlet for said accumulator between said door and wall when the latter is in normal position and connecting said intake mouth pneumatically with the interior of the accumulator, a screen on said wall pneumatically connecting said inlet with said connection, means operative upon opening of the door to move said wall to thread removing position to provide a temporary compartment communicating with said inlet and said connection, and means to seal said screen when said wall is moved tosaid thread removing position.

11. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft. replenished loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having. a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator provided, with a connection through which subatmospheric pressures are created within the accumulator, means defining an inlet pneumatically connecting the intake mouth. with the interior of the accumulator, a normally closed door for said accumulator, a wall between said door and said connection and movable from normal position to thread removing position, said door and wall being normally located on opposite sides of a primary thread receiving compart ment pneumatically connected through said inlet to said intake mouth, a screen on said wall pneumatically connecting said primary compartment with said connection when the wall is in normal position, means operative to seal said screen when said wall is in thread removing position, and means connecting the door and wall operative to move the latter to thread removing position to provide a temporary compartment pneumatically communicating, with said connection, inlet and intake mouth when the door is opened.

12. In a pneumatic thread control system for a weft replenishing loom having waste threads to be removed incident to replenishing operations, said system having a pneumatic thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiv ing the waste threads, a hollow thread accumulator connected pneumatically through an inlet with said intake mouth, a connection through which subatmospheric pressures are created within said accumulator, movable means within said accumulator having an opening therein and capable of assuming two positions on opposite sides of said inlet, said means when in one position forming part of a primary thread compartment containing said inlet and connected pneumatically through said opening with said connection, said means when in the other position thereof forming a temporary thread compartment containing said inlet and directly communicating with said connection, and means closing said opening when said movable means is in said other position.

13. In a pneumatic thread control system having a thread remover provided with an intake mouth receiving waste threads to be removed incident to weft replenishing operations of a loom, a hollow thread accumulator within which subatmospheric pressures exist, a door for said accumulator normally closed to maintain subatmospheric pressures within said accumulator but openable to permit removal of waste threads within the accumulator, and means within said accumulator movable to two difierent positions corresponding to alternate paths of travel for the air within said accumulator relatively to said means, one position of said means for each of said paths, said means when in one position corresponding to closure of the door and cooperating with the latter to define one of. said air paths, and said means when in the other position thereof corresponding to open position of the door and cooperating with parts of the accumulator to define the other air path, said one path being sealed from the atmosphere by" the door when the latter is, closed, and said. other path being sealed from the atmosphere by said movable means when the door is open.

RICHARD G. TURNER. 

